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1963 World Series
The 1963 World Series matched the two-time defending champion New York Yankees against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the Dodgers sweeping the Series in four games to capture their second title in five years, and 3rd in 9 years. This was the first time that the New York Yankees were swept in a World Series in four games (the 1922 had one tie). Starting pitchers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and ace reliever Ron Perranoski combined to give up only four runs in four games. Mel Allen and Vin Scully were the television announcers, and it turned out to be Mel Allen's last World Series as a TV or radio broadcaster. Allen had done the Series 18 consecutive years. Summary NL Los Angeles Dodgers (4) vs. AL New York Yankees (0) Matchups Game 1 Wednesday, October 2, 1963 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York Sandy Koufax started it off with a then record fifteen-strikeout performance in Game 1. It bested fellow Dodgers pitcher Carl Erskine's mark in 1953 by one, and would be surpassed by Bob Gibson in 1968. Koufax also tied a World Series record when he fanned the first five (5) Yankees batters he faced in that game. Since "K" is the time-honored scoring symbol for "strikeout" (Vin Scully once remarked that "Koufax's name will always remind you of strikeouts"), some newspapers' headlines for the game coverage consisted simply of Koufax's surname prefixed by fifteen K's. Clete Boyer was the only Yankee regular not to be struck out against Koufax. Mickey Mantle, Tom Tresh and Tony Kubek were struck out twice each, and Bobby Richardson was struck out three times—something he hadn't done in one game his entire career. (Just that regular season, Richardson had been struck out only 22 times in 630 at-bats, without even being striking out twice in one game.) Koufax also struck out three pinch-hitters, including Harry Bright to end the game. Dodger catcher Johnny Roseboro's three-run homer in Game 1 was the only home run all year that Yankee pitcher Whitey Ford allowed to a left-handed batter. Game 2 Thursday, October 3, 1963 at Yankee Stadium in Bronx, New York Game 3 Saturday, October 5, 1963 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California Game 4 Sunday, October 6, 1963 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California The World Series Most Valuable Player Award went to Sandy Koufax, who started two (2) of the four (4) games and had two (2) complete game victories. Composite box 1963 World Series (4–0): Los Angeles Dodgers (N.L.) over New York Yankees (A.L.) |}} Popular culture * This is the World Series that Jack Nicholson's character R.P. McMurphy lobbies unsuccessfully to watch on television (and subsequently "announces" by imagining the action) in Miloš Forman's 1975 film One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He imagines quite a different scene than what occurred, however, as he describes Bobby Richardson, Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle and the Yankees knocking Koufax out of the box. In reality, the Yankees never led at any time in the Series, and only once in the entire Series (and that only for a half-inning) were the Yankees and Dodgers tied at a score other than 0–0. Later in the film, a brief clip of Ernie Harwell's NBC Radio broadcast of Game 2 can be heard. * The MVP award was made to Koufax in New York City. He was presented with a new car. As soon as they handed Koufax the keys to his new car, a New York City police officer stepped forward and handed Koufax a ticket for parking on the sidewalk. Low scoring World Series Teams With Less Than Ten (10) Runs Scored (Through 1963): Series quotes Notes References *Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series. 1st ed. New York: St Martins, 1990. (Neft and Cohen 298–301) *Reichler, Joseph, ed. (1982). The Baseball Encyclopedia (5th ed.), p. 2171. MacMillian Publishing. ISBN 0-02-579010-2. * External links * 1963 World Series at Baseball-Reference.com * [http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/history/postseason/mlb_ws_recaps.jsp?feature=1963 1963 World Series at WorldSeries.com (MLB.com)] * 1963 World Series at Baseball-Almanac.com * 1963 World Series box scores and play-by-play at Retrosheet.org Category:World Series World Series Category:Los Angeles Dodgers Category:New York Yankees